Etu’s form trembled as he curled up under a burlap sack on the icy stone floor. He longed for home. And yet, this would be the closest thing to a warm moment of respite that he would feel in a long time.
He closed his jade eyes and felt the warmth of his brothers and sisters around him. Proud pawns of past generations who served a sprawling military empire that fell to ruin long ago. He struggled to picture what it was like back then—with chivalrous knights, regal kings and queens, and towering castles. But when he opened his eyes, all he saw was a dusty battlefield.
Close to his heart, Etu clasped a number of scrolls, tablets, tomes, and weapons of a bygone age. These were the only possessions he owned that he truly loved. They gave him a sense of belonging, hope, and purpose—things he never wanted to let go of. Because to forget them would mean losing a part of himself that he had fought so hard for.
Purpose.
To fight and die alongside his brothers and sisters. To proudly defend their kingdom—their home. That was what they were taught. And those who were strong enough to make it to the other side, would join the few who had proven themselves time and time again—to ascend into the ranks of the elite.
But the elite was no more. And the kingdom was dead. And without purpose, many of his brothers and sisters in arms chose to cast aside their weapons, abandon their former lives, and flee the lands. They chose to hide and forget rather than wrestle with their troubled minds over what they lost. They tried to create new lives for themselves, and form new meaning—in solitude.
But Etu didn’t want to forget. He needed purpose. He needed to feel like he was part of something more.
He needed hope.
So he wandered the world, searching for fragments of lost memories in cold, forgotten lands. And every night, he dreamt of the return of the great empire of legends and the forgotten elite.
Because he never wanted to forget.
This story was based on an original character created by me—a chess piece named Etu (E2), for a toy-themed D&D campaign.
JMV 